Cabinet likely to approve hike in DA for Central govt staff this week

New Delhi (The Uttam Hindu): The Union Cabinet is likely to approve a hike in dearness allowance (DA) and dearness relief (DR) for Central government employees and pensioners, respectively, this week, according to members of government staff union forums.

The revision in DA and DR is likely to be on the Cabinet agenda as one of the two biannual hikes in the two allowances is usually announced in March while the other is announced in October ahead of Diwali. The DA and DR hike, that is approved in March, is implemented retrospectively with effect from January. "The hike is expected to be announced in the next meeting of the Union Cabinet," Confederation of Central Government Employees and Workers President Rupak Sarkar said.

He said that the dearness allowance hike would probably be 2 per cent as it is benchmarked with inflation based on the consumer price index for industrial workers which has eased this year compared to last year when DA was hiked by 3 per cent in October and 4 per cent in March. Following the hike of 3 per cent in October last year, the DA increased to 53 per cent of the basic pay. If the DA is increased by 2 per cent in the forthcoming revision, then the allowance would go up to 55 per cent of basic pay.

The government has also set up the 8th Pay Commission, which was approved by the Centre in January this year, for revising the wages and allowances of Central government employees. The formal constitution of the commission, which involves the appointment of a Chairman and at least two members, is expected soon. Although DA and DR will continue to be revised on a biannual basis, this would probably be the final revision before the commission initiates its deliberations with various stakeholders.

The employees forums have also sought the amalgamation of the two components with the basic salary before the next Pay Commission report is implemented. Under the 5th Pay Commission the rule was to merge the basic pay with DA, once the key allowance crosses 50 per cent. The government had then integrated DA with basic pay in 2004. However, this practice was discontinued under the subsequent 6th and 7th Pay Commissions.